In this episode of the Americas Series, David Yakobovitch spoke to Patricia Montesi, co-founder and CEO of Qolo, a FinTech for FinTechs.

Here is what they discussed (and more):

• FinTechs have traditionally didn't always like the relationships but had nowhere else to go. Today there are more options, but unhealthy relationships remain. Now, FinTechs get lured by "quick-to-market" approaches that limit functionality and revenue. Rather than setting them up for growth, they’re more like cell phone contracts which look great to start but lock clients into expensive, long-term deals that don’t really meet their needs. How do you future-proof FinTechs for future growth?

• FinTechs demand omnichannel capabilities and more control over product customization and revenue, leaving the door open for competitors to take advantage. We are in a Fintech Gold Rush right now, and the Fintech industry is getting smart about how it wants to attack the opportunity. It takes a next-generation payments approach to meet the need truly.

• Alongside the FinTech industry’s reputation as forward-thinking and fast-moving lies a parallel universe of notoriously slow players and systems that are still nostalgic for an era gone by. The pandemic has provided revelations and we have also unearthed an undeniable truth - for the payments industry to continue providing essential services, we must be willing to pull back the covers. And there is one dirty secret that’s stopping us from moving forward with a more trustworthy and transparent industry: We’ve Got a Big Risk Management Problem. The payments industry ecosystem includes four major components: infrastructure (like Qolo), program managers/resellers (like Payoneer), middlemen (resellers), and businesses. Program managers sit one level above infrastructure services, but that means they are also one level removed. Middlemen like Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) providers push their customers back one level more. And with each level is a new link that can be broken, introducing further risk, cost, and loss of efficiency. The industry-accepted this multilevel approach in earlier days, but more recent news has revealed a flaw in that model, and some FinTech companies are still reeling from it.

Conclusion:

• Learn more about how better to assess future needs by careful vetting of your technology

• Demand more from your payments platform